Technically a blog about the last couple of weeks should not be posted here since it was not really a “European adventure,” but we thought everyone might be wondering what has happened to us. John is currently working in California until February 19 and Erin decided now would be a great time to get away from the cold and dark in Amsterdam. Our flight to California departed Amsterdam January 28. While John is still over there, Erin had to come back to Amsterdam to fulfill the few obligations she has here: participating in the music ministry at church and counseling a few clients. Erin arrived back to a very cold and windy Amsterdam yesterday morning.
California, on the other hand, was warm, sunny and beautiful! We were staying in Orange County, where wildfires have been burning due to a lack of rain. The last few days Erin was there she witnessed large clouds of smoke coming up from behind the hills, but the fire was far enough away that there were no other real effects in the area in which we were staying. Erin’s mom was able to come over for about 5 days to spend time with Erin while John worked. What a fun week! They had a wonderful time shopping, going to the beach, eating good seafood, and shopping some more. Erin had to stock up on clothes and shoes in her size since the Netherlands offers very little in the way of small sizes.
Last weekend John did not have to work, so that gave us time to spend together. The state park we went to had both beach and hills to walk around in, and Sunday we drove to San Diego to go to the zoo there. John had been once before, years ago, but he had stayed for only a few hours. It took us all day to walk around that place; it is huge! The polar bear was a favorite; some pictures of the bear’s antics are on our photo website. Of course, since Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday we almost had the zoo to ourselves! (Now that we live in Europe, we have not been keeping up with American football at all so the Super Bowl was not of much interest to either of us. We did manage to get back to our hotel in time to watch the last quarter of the game.)
It was very difficult for Erin to come back to the Netherlands after California. If we had millions, Southern California would be the place to live! Seeing the ocean, the bright blue sky, the sun, trees with leaves, and flowers everywhere was a sight for sore eyes. At first it seemed people were so much friendlier in the U.S. than they are here, but then we realized people in the Netherlands are probably friendly - we just don’t understand what they’re saying half the time and the other half of the time we’re trying desperately to ignore and avoid people so as not to have to feel stupid by shrugging our shoulders, smiling, or attempting to communicate in words that we can’t speak Dutch. Even so, we definitely enjoyed being in a place where we understood everyone (even the hotel staff who spoke Spanish!) and could easily read all the signs, maps, and billboards.
Erin can’t say she’s glad to be back home now, especially since John is still in the U.S. It was nice to have a break from the Netherlands weather and European life for a while. Some people say when you leave the strange country you’re living in to visit your home country for a while, you come back and culture shock starts all over again. Erin has not found this to be the case. Things in Amsterdam seem just as they ever were, and compared to our initial arrival in the country, Erin realizes she knows and can do so many more things so much more easily now than 5 months ago. Life continues, and when John returns in a little over a week, our adventures will again be completely “European,” we promise.
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